Pushing mechanism and boxing device

Abstract

To prevent a bag being pushed into a box from losing its posture.SOLUTION: A pushing mechanism 20 pushes multiple bags A, each of which is formed by sealing both ends of a cylindrically formed film, into a cardboard box B, which is open on one side, in an upright position. The pushing mechanism 20 includes a box waiting portion 21, an article placing portion 22, and a pushing portion 23 that moves toward an opening Bp of the cardboard box B to push the multiple bags A into the cardboard box B. The pushing portion 23 has a contact portion 25 that comes into contact with a portion of the upright bag A in a height direction and bends one side of the bag A in a pushing direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a pushing mechanism and a cartoning device. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a pushing mechanism that pushes a plurality of bags formed by sealing both ends of a cylindrically formed film into a box that is open to the side in an upright position. For example, Patent Document 1 describes such a pushing mechanism, which includes a box standby section for waiting the boxes, an article placing section having a placing surface for temporarily placing articles (bags), and a pushing plate (pushing section) having a pressing surface for pushing the articles toward the box, and which packs the articles into the box by bringing the pushing plate close to the box. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6534820 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-mentioned pushing mechanism, a part of the bag pushed into the box may protrude from the box. In this case, for example, during the next operation, the bag may interfere with surrounding parts, causing the bag to become misaligned inside the box (for example, the bag may rotate).

[0005] The present disclosure describes a pushing mechanism and a boxing device that can prevent bags pushed into a box from becoming misaligned. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] (1) One aspect of the present disclosure is a pushing mechanism that pushes, in an upright position, multiple bags formed by sealing both ends of a cylindrically formed film into a box that is open to the side, the pushing mechanism including: a box waiting section for waiting the box; an item placing section having a placing surface on which the multiple bags are temporarily placed in an upright position; and a pushing section that extends in the direction in which the multiple bags are lined up and moves from the item placing section toward the opening of the box to push the multiple bags placed on the placing surface into the box, the pushing section having an abutment section that abuts a portion of the upright bag in the height direction and bends one side of the bag in the pushing direction.

[0007] In this pushing mechanism, one side of the bag pushed into the box is bent by the abutment. This makes the side of the bag more likely to deform, so even if the bag pushed into the box interferes with a surrounding part, the side of the bag can be actively deformed to prevent the entire bag from moving (for example, rotating). In other words, it is possible to prevent the posture of the bag pushed into the box from being disturbed.

[0008] (2) In the pushing mechanism described in (1) above, the contact portion may protrude from the pressing surface along which the pushing portion pushes the bags in the direction in which the pushing portion pushes the bags, and the protruding height of the contact portion may be greater than 1 / 10 of the length of the bags in the pushing direction and less than 1 / 3 of the length of the bags in that direction. In this case, the posture of the bags pushed into the box can be effectively prevented from being disturbed.

[0009] (3) The pushing mechanism described in (1) or (2) above may further include a lifting unit that raises and lowers the box standby unit, and the pushing unit may push multiple bags again into the box that has been lowered by the lifting unit after pushing multiple bags into the box. In this case, multiple layers of bags can be arranged vertically inside the box.

[0010] (4) In the pushing mechanism described in any one of (1) to (3) above, the contact portion may be provided so as to be able to expand and contract in the direction in which the plurality of bags are arranged. In this case, by expanding and contracting the contact portion, it is possible to adjust the number of the plurality of bags that the contact portion comes into contact with.

[0011] (5) In the pushing mechanism described in any one of (1) to (4) above, the side of the bag bent by the contact portion may correspond to one edge of a pair of seal portions provided at both ends of the bag. For example, since the rigidity of the seal portion of the bag is relatively high, if the seal portion interferes with surrounding parts, the posture of the bag inside the box is likely to be disturbed. Therefore, if the edge of the seal portion is bent by the contact portion, the effect of suppressing the posture of the bag pushed into the box from being disturbed is significant.

[0012] (6) In the pushing mechanism described in any one of (1) to (5) above, the contact portion may contact the center portion of the upright bag in the height direction, and may bend one side of the bag pushed into the box on the opening side of the box so as to bend it inward when viewed from the direction in which the multiple bags are lined up. In this case, it is possible to specifically realize the contact portion that bends one side of the bag.

[0013] (7) One aspect of the present disclosure is a boxing device including a conveying mechanism that conveys bags one by one in sequence, a stacking mechanism that stacks a predetermined number of bags, and a pushing mechanism according to any one of (1) to (6) above that pushes the predetermined number of bags into a box. This boxing device also has the advantageous effect of preventing the bags pushed into the box from losing their position due to the pushing mechanism. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to prevent the posture of a bag that is pushed into a box from being disturbed. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a case packing device according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the flow of cardboard boxes and products in the packing device of FIG. [Figure 3]Fig. 3(a) is a diagram showing the procedure for conveying a group of articles by the article conveying unit of Fig. 1. Fig. 3(b) is a diagram showing a continuation of Fig. 3(a). Fig. 3(c) is a diagram showing a continuation of Fig. 3(b). Fig. 3(d) is a diagram showing a continuation of Fig. 3(c). Fig. 3(e) is a diagram showing a continuation of Fig. 3(d). [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the pushing mechanism of FIG. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the push-in portion of FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a schematic side view illustrating the operation of the pushing mechanism of FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a schematic side view illustrating a continuation of FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a schematic side view illustrating a continuation of FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating the rotation of a bag inside a cardboard box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, for convenience, the front-rear, up-down, and left-right directions relative to the cartoning device 1 are used. Some figures show three-dimensional orthogonal axes indicating these directions. As an example, the position where the box material Z is placed and the position where the sealed cardboard box B is discharged are the front of the cartoning device 1. The position where the product supply means 50 is provided is the rear of the cartoning device 1. The front-rear and left-right directions are both directions that extend horizontally. The up-down direction is equivalent to the vertical direction.

[0017] First, the overall configuration of the boxing device 1 will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. As shown in Figure 1, the boxing device 1 is a device that assembles (manufactures) a cardboard box (box) B, places a plurality of bags A inside the cardboard box B, and seals the cardboard box B. The boxing device 1 assembles a plurality of box materials Z stored in a box material storage section 11 one by one, and packs a plurality of bags A, which are supplied from the outside and sequentially carried in by a product supply means 50, into the cardboard box B in an aligned state. The bag A is an article (product) formed by sealing both ends of a film formed into a cylindrical shape. The bag A includes seal sections 2 at both ends.

[0018] 1 and 2, the packing device 1 includes a box supply means 10 that assembles and supplies cardboard boxes B, a product supply means 50 that sequentially supplies a plurality of bags A, a pushing mechanism 20 that pushes the plurality of bags A into the cardboard box B to store them, and a sealing means 30 that transports and seals the cardboard box B that stores the plurality of bags A. Each component of the packing device 1 will be described below.

[0019] The box supply means 10 has a box material storage section 11 that stores a plurality of box materials Z, a box making section 12 that assembles a box body Ba of a cardboard box B, and a first rotation section 13 that rotates the assembled box body Ba. The box material storage section 11 supports a plurality of box materials Z that are stacked on top of each other using a support section (not shown). The box material storage section 11 includes a lifting mechanism 11a that takes out the box materials Z one by one. Each box material Z taken out by the lifting mechanism 11a is transported to a subsequent stage by a conveyor (not shown).

[0020] The box making unit 12 receives each box material Z, unfolds the box material Z into a cylindrical shape, folds in the bottom flaps Bf, and attaches tape to the bottom surface Bc. This allows the box body Ba to be transported to a subsequent stage with the opening Bp facing upward. In this embodiment, "box making" of the cardboard box B refers to the formation of a rectangular box body Ba. Therefore, "box making" does not necessarily require the top flaps Bf to be folded in. The box making unit 12 may include a suction rotation mechanism 12a that rotates the box body Ba so that the long side D of the box body Ba faces the transport direction.

[0021] The box body Ba of the cardboard box B is a rectangular parallelepiped. That is, in a standard position with the top surface Bd (see the sealed cardboard box B shown in the lower right of FIG. 2 ) facing upward, the box body Ba includes four parallel, equal-length sides extending in the vertical direction. Meanwhile, the box body Ba has a top surface Bd and a bottom surface Bc, each of which is a congruent rectangle. The top surface Bd and the bottom surface Bc each include a pair of short sides C and a pair of long sides D. Note that when the flaps Bf are open on the top surface Bd, the box body Ba has an opening Bp. This opening Bp also includes a pair of short sides C and a pair of long sides D, just like the top surface Bd. (Strictly speaking, there is a difference between the top surface Bd and the opening Bp by the thickness of the box material Z, but this distinction is not made in this embodiment.)

[0022] The first rotating unit 13 rotates the completed cardboard box B into a predetermined position. As an example, the first rotating unit 13 rotates the cardboard box B into a position where the long side D is positioned downward and the opening Bp faces to the side. The position of the cardboard box B by the first rotating unit 13 is controlled by, for example, a controller 60, which will be described later.

[0023] The product supply means 50 includes a product introduction section 51 and a product conveying section 52. The product introduction section 51 is located downstream of processes that perform, for example, weight, sealability, and foreign matter contamination inspections, and receives bags A that have passed inspection and transfers each bag A to the product conveying section 52. The product introduction section 51 includes a product introduction conveyor 51a and a product introduction conveyor 51b located downstream of the product introduction conveyor 51a. Each bag A is transferred from the product introduction conveyor 51a to the product introduction conveyor 51b, where it is conveyed along a support wall (not shown). The product introduction section 51 corresponds to a conveying mechanism that conveys the bags A one by one in order.

[0024] The product conveying section 52 receives each bag A from the product carry-in section 51 and accumulates a predetermined number of bags A to form a product group X. The product conveying section 52 corresponds to an accumulation mechanism that accumulates the bags A. As shown in FIGS. 3(a) to 3(c), the product conveying section 52 includes a first alignment conveyor 52a that conveys the bags A by a predetermined pitch L, and a second alignment conveyor 52b that receives multiple bags A from the first alignment conveyor 52a in a state where the bags A partially overlap each other, and conveys these to the article placing section 22 described below.

[0025] The first aligning conveyor 52a and the second aligning conveyor 52b are each inclined at a predetermined angle. The inclination angles of the first aligning conveyor 52a and the second aligning conveyor 52b may be adjustable. As shown in FIG. 3(d), when a group of products X is formed on the article placement section 22, the next bags A are sequentially supplied onto the first aligning conveyor 52a, and some of the bags A are transferred to the second aligning conveyor 52b. As shown in FIG. 3(e), multiple bags A are lined up in a row in the left-right direction on the article placement section 22.

[0026] 1 and 2, the pushing mechanism 20 is a mechanism that pushes a plurality of bags A that are transported in an upright position into a cardboard box B that is open on the side. The pushing mechanism 20 stores the plurality of bags A in the cardboard box B. Details of the pushing mechanism 20 will be described later.

[0027] The sealing means 30 has a second rotating unit 31 that rotates the box body Ba that contains multiple bags A, and a sealing unit 32 that closes the opening Bp of the box body Ba rotated by the second rotating unit 31 with a flap Bf and applies tape. The second rotating unit 31 rotates the cardboard box B so that the conveying direction of the cardboard box B matches the direction in which the tape is applied by the sealing unit 32. The sealing unit 32 includes a tape applying unit 34. The sealing unit 32 folds the top side flap Bf of the box body Ba that is being conveyed by the discharge conveyor 33, and applies tape to the top surface Bd by the tape applying unit 34.

[0028] The case packing device 1 includes a controller 60 that controls the operation of each of the box supply means 10, the pushing mechanism 20, the sealing means 30, and the product supply means 50. The controller 60 is configured as a computer device that includes a processor such as a CPU, memories such as ROM and RAM, storage, and communication devices. In the controller 60, the processor executes predetermined software (programs) loaded into the memory, etc., and controls the reading and writing of data from and to the memory and storage, as well as communication via the communication devices, thereby realizing various controls.

[0029] Next, the pushing mechanism 20 will be described in detail. As shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 4, the pushing mechanism 20 includes a box standby section 21, an article placement section 22, a pushing section 23, and a lifting section 28. The box standby section 21 is a mechanism or device for holding a cardboard box B on standby. The box standby section 21 holds the cardboard box B with its long side D positioned downward and its opening Bp facing to the side (here, rearward). The box standby section 21 is not particularly limited, and various known technologies may be used.

[0030] The article placement section 22 has a placement surface 22a on which multiple bags A are temporarily placed in an upright position. The placement surface 22a is a horizontal surface. The height position of the placement surface 22a corresponds to the holding position of the cardboard box B by the box standby section 21. The article placement section 22 is configured to include, for example, a conveyor. The article placement section 22 transports the multiple bags A toward the upright conveyor 22e, causing the multiple bags A to stand up (see Figures 3(d) and 3(e)).

[0031] 4, 6, and 7, the pushing portion 23 extends in the left-right direction, which is the direction in which the plurality of bags A are lined up. The pushing portion 23 moves from the article placing portion 22 toward the opening Bp of the cardboard box B, thereby pushing the plurality of bags A placed on the placing surface 22a into the cardboard box B. The pushing portion 23 has a moving plate 24 and a contact portion 25.

[0032] The transfer plate 24 is configured to be slidable in the front-rear direction. The transfer plate 24 includes a pressing surface 24a on its front surface. The transfer plate 24 is driven by the controller 60 to move forward when the holding of the cardboard box B in the box standby section 21 and the placement of multiple bags A in the article placement section 22 are completed. As a result, the pressing surface 24a presses the multiple bags A forward, and the multiple bags A are pushed (transferred) into the box main body Ba. The transfer plate 24 moves forward until the bags A being pressed by the pressing surface 24a come into contact with the bottom surface Bc of the cardboard box B. As an example, the transfer plate 24 moves forward until the pressing surface 24a is positioned inside the cardboard box B.

[0033] As shown in Fig. 5, the transfer plate 24 includes a first transfer plate 24x and a second transfer plate 24y. The second transfer plate 24y is provided so as to be movable in the left-right direction relative to the first transfer plate 24x. The second transfer plate 24y is connected to the first transfer plate 24x and has a nesting structure that allows it to be housed in the first transfer plate 24x. This allows the transfer plate 24 to be extendable and contractible in the left-right direction.

[0034] As shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, the abutting portion 25 abuts against a portion of the height of the upright bag A, bending one side of the bag A in the pushing direction of the pushing portion 23. The side of the bag A bent by the abutting portion 25 corresponds to the edge of the seal portion 2 provided on the bag A. In this embodiment, the abutting portion 25 abuts against the center portion of the height of the upright bag A, bending one side of the seal portion 2 on the rear side (the side of the opening Bp) of the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B so that it enters inward when viewed from the left and right (see FIGS. 6 and 7). When the pushing portion 23 pushes the bag A into the cardboard box B, the abutting portion 25 crushes a portion of the bag A and pushes it into the cardboard box B. By bending the side of the bag A by the abutting portion 25, a recess 5 is formed on the rear side of the bag A that is recessed in accordance with the shape of the abutting portion 25.

[0035] The contact portion 25 is fixed to the transfer plate 24 with screws or the like. The contact portion 25 is a protrusion that protrudes from the pressing surface 24a toward the front, which is the direction in which the pushing portion 23 pushes the bag A. The contact portion 25 is a convex rib that extends in the left-right direction and protrudes forward. The contact portion 25 has a curved front surface. For example, the shape of the contact portion 25 is curved so that the front side is convex toward the front when viewed from the left-right direction. As an example, the shape of the contact portion 25 is a semicylindrical shape. The protruding height of the contact portion 25 is greater than 1 / 10 of the length of the bag A in the front-to-rear direction and less than 1 / 3 of the length of the bag A in the front-to-rear direction. The contact portion 25 is provided at the bottom of the pressing surface 24a. Here, a gap is formed between the contact portion 25 and the lower edge of the pressing surface 24a to prevent the bag A from getting caught.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 5, the contact portion 25 includes a first contact portion 25x provided on the first transfer plate 24x and a second contact portion 25y provided on the second transfer plate 24y. The second contact portion 25y moves left and right relative to the first contact portion 25x as the second transfer plate 24y moves left and right relative to the first transfer plate 24x. The second contact portion 25y is connected to the first contact portion 25x and has a nesting structure that can be housed in the first contact portion 25x. This allows the contact portion 25 to be extendable and contractible in the left and right directions. As shown in FIGS. 4, 6, and 7, the lifting unit 28 lifts and lowers the box standby unit 21. The lifting unit 28 is not particularly limited and may include various known components, such as a conveyor belt.

[0037] In this pushing mechanism 20, as an example, first, the box standby section 21 is lowered by the lifting section 28, and the cardboard box B, which is held with its opening Bp facing backward, is lowered to a height position corresponding to the pushing section 23. The pushing section 23 moves forward, and the pressing surface 24a presses forward the multiple bags A lined up in an upright position on the article placing section 22. As a result, the multiple bags A are pushed into the cardboard box B. Thereafter, the pushing section 23 moves rearward and returns to its initial position, and another multiple bags A are conveyed to the article placing section 22 by the product conveying section 52. Next, the box standby section 21 is lowered again by the lifting section 28, and the cardboard box B is lowered a predetermined distance (a distance corresponding to the width direction of the bags A). The pushing section 23 moves forward again, and the pressing surface 24a presses forward the multiple bags A lined up in an upright position on the article placing section 22. As a result, the plurality of bags A are pushed into the cardboard box B again so as to be stacked on top of the plurality of bags A already stored therein.

[0038] In the pushing mechanism 20 and the packing device 1 of this embodiment, one side of the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B by the pushing mechanism 20 is bent by the abutting portion 25 (see FIG. 7 ). This makes the one side of the bag A more likely to deform. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 8 , when the box standby portion 21 is lowered by the lifting portion 28 to accommodate more bags A into the cardboard box B, even if the bag A already pushed into the cardboard box B interferes with a peripheral component 90, only the one side of the bag A is actively deformed, thereby preventing the entire bag A from moving (for example, the bag A from rotating within the cardboard box B as shown in FIG. 9 ). In other words, it is possible to prevent the posture of the bag A pushed into the cardboard box B from being disturbed. This makes it possible to ensure the stability of the packing of the bag A into the cardboard box B.

[0039] In this embodiment, contact portion 25 protrudes forward from pressing surface 24a against which pusher portion 23 pushes multiple bags A, and the protruding height of contact portion 25 is greater than 1 / 10 of the length of bags A in the front-to-rear direction and less than 1 / 3 of the length of bags A. In this case, it is possible to effectively prevent bags A pushed into cardboard box B from losing their posture.

[0040] In this embodiment, the pushing mechanism 20 further includes a lifting unit 28 that raises and lowers the box standby unit 21. After the pushing unit 23 has pushed multiple bags A into the cardboard box B, the pushing unit 23 again pushes multiple bags A into the cardboard box B that has been lowered by the lifting unit 28. In this case, multiple layers of bags A can be arranged in the height direction inside the cardboard box B.

[0041] In this embodiment, the contact portion 25 is provided so as to be expandable and contractible in the left-right direction. In this case, by expanding and contracting the contact portion 25, it is possible to adjust the number of bags A that the contact portion 25 comes into contact with.

[0042] For example, in bag A, the rigidity of the sealed portion 2 is relatively high, so if the sealed portion 2 interferes with the peripheral part 90, the bag A will rotate inside the cardboard box B, and the posture of the bag A will likely be significantly disturbed. In this regard, in this embodiment, the side of the bag A that is bent by the abutting portion 25 corresponds to the edge of one of the pair of sealed portions 2 of the bag A. When the edge of the sealed portion 2 is bent by the abutting portion 25 in this way, the effect of preventing the posture of the bag A that has been pressed into the cardboard box B from being disturbed is significant.

[0043] In this embodiment, the contact portion 25 contacts the center portion in the height direction of the upright bag A. When viewed from the left and right, the contact portion 25 bends one side of the bag A that is pushed into the cardboard box B, on the side of the opening Bp of the cardboard box B, so that the side is inward. In this case, the contact portion 25 that bends one side of the bag A can be specifically realized.

[0044] Although the embodiments have been described above, one aspect of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

[0045] In the above embodiment, 1 / 10 of the length includes approximately 1 / 10 of the length and includes errors such as measurement errors. Similarly, in the above embodiment, 1 / 3 of the length includes approximately 1 / 3 of the length and includes errors such as measurement errors. In the above embodiment, the box supply means 10 may be omitted, and the sealing means 30 may be omitted in the boxing device 1. The configuration of the product supply means 50 may be modified as appropriate from the above embodiment. In the above embodiment, the peripheral parts 90 are not particularly limited, and may be various components that can be present around (near or in close proximity to) the cardboard box B in the box standby section 21.

[0046] The respective components in the above-described embodiment and modified examples are not limited to the materials and shapes described above, and various materials and shapes can be applied. Furthermore, the respective components in the above-described embodiment and modified examples can be arbitrarily applied to the respective components in other embodiments or modified examples. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1...boxing device, 10...box supply means (supply means), 13...first rotating section, 20...pushing mechanism, 21...box waiting section, 22...item placement section, 23...pushing section, 28...lifting section, 30...sealing means, 50...product supply means, 51...product loading section (conveying mechanism), 52...product conveying section (accumulation mechanism), 60...controller, 90...peripheral parts, A...bag, B...cardboard box, Bp...opening.

Claims

1. A pushing mechanism for pushing a plurality of bags formed by sealing both ends of a cylindrically formed film into a box having an opening on one side in an upright position, a box standby unit for placing the box on standby; an article placement section having a placement surface on which the plurality of bags are temporarily placed in an upright position; a pusher extending in a direction in which the plurality of bags are arranged and moving from the article placement section toward the opening of the box to push the plurality of bags placed on the placement surface into the box; The pushing portion has a contact portion that contacts a portion of the bag in the height direction when the bag is in an upright position and bends one side of the bag in the pushing direction.

2. the abutment portion protrudes from a pressing surface along which the pushing portion pushes the plurality of bags in a direction in which the pushing portion pushes the bags, The pushing mechanism according to claim 1 , wherein the protruding height of the contact portion is greater than 1 / 10 of the length of the bag in the pushing direction and less than 1 / 3 of the length of the bag.

3. Further provided is a lifting unit that lifts and lowers the box standby unit, The pushing mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pushing unit pushes the plurality of bags into the box again after the box has been lowered by the lifting unit.

4. The pushing mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the contact portion is provided so as to be expandable and contractible in a direction in which the plurality of bags are arranged.

5. The pushing mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the side of the bag bent by the contact portion corresponds to one edge of a pair of seal portions provided at both ends of the bag.

6. 3. The pushing mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the abutment portion abuts against the central portion of the bag in the upright position in the height direction, and bends one side of the bag pushed into the box on the opening side of the box so that it moves inward when viewed from the direction in which the bags are lined up.

7. a conveying mechanism that conveys the bags one by one in sequence; a stacking mechanism for stacking a predetermined number of the bags; and a pushing mechanism according to claim 1 or 2 that pushes the predetermined number of bags into the box.

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